sorry

i know i haven't blogged for a really long time. just haven't had the energy or the motivation or the ganas as i would say in spanish. for me, my last blog entry was rather significant in that i set a goal a long time ago, that i wanted for that man to have a large production of worms. that was my one goal that i really wanted to be accomplished. i reached other goals, but this one had the most significance for me. So now, i'm done in my town of tejutla. i had a number of going away parties, i said goodbye to my communities, and have moved all of my stuff. i'll miss it there.

for those of you who don't know, I am staying another year in guatemala (yes, a whole year). the Peace Corps has asked me to take a position working as a volunteer and as a supervisor of new volunteers in the agriculture program that we have (16 people). my responsibilities are to give support to the new volunteers in their sites, plan trainings and other peace corps events, along with working with a new host country agency in the project.

i'm really excited about this job. i'm not actually getting paid more, but it's an excellent opportunity to work more in development in a new and more demanding position. plus, i get to wear jeans and a t-shirt (not to mention my boots) to work for another year, and spend another year in what has come to be my home, guatemala.

So i moved a few weeks ago, i'm going to be living with a guatemalan family in Santa Lucia, Milpas Altas of the department Sacatepequez. I'll be much closer to guatemala city and antigua, which will be nice (a lot more amenities, butter is that much closer folks).

for the moment i'm home in MN (for 30 days!). peace corps has been pretty nice about the whole thing. paid for my ticket home, i get a per diem while i'm here, and am getting paid back in guatemala too. i guess it's not that big of a deal when one has just worked for someone for $300/month for two years, but it still makes me feel pretty darn special.

so that's the deal. this was a long entry. if you read it all, you impress me.

take care,

jake